the color blue

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     the color blue looks different
  to all of us. the world rises
          in a field of flags
    beyond the city. the color red
 arrives by courier at dawn. the news
               repeated by the hour.
  rose is the light and shadow
      of the day we stood by the shore.
                          the color of good-bye.
 violet falls across the huddled
       streets, the sleeping windows.
  the humming of an engine in the air.
     the hiss of a radio, murmur of voices,
                                through the long night.
       gold the color of our wandering.
will we come together again, will we
    come together, in the green
   peacock world, the pale cuckoo spring.
   the colors of the rain ask different
                          questions of each of us.
  the rain is a coat of memory,
                            a door to a meeting.
the river is a color where the day waits
        and gathers, where we call out
     our names, building
                                the new life.
  the water rises and grows loud
      as we swell the open street,
              calling out our names, our hands
        cupped with light, bearing
                               the flags of dawn.